Power type Diesel-hydraulic Serial number 76108–76110 Build date April & October 1956 | Builder Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Model RP-210 Total produced 3 | |
The RP-210 was a streamlined, 1,000 hp (750 kW) locomotive built in 1956 by Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton, specifically to operate with the lightweight, all aluminum, Train-X train produced by Pullman Car Company. This model represented Baldwin's attempted entry into the lightweight locomotive market, but only three of the low-slung units were produced: the first unit was built for the New York Central Railroad for use with their Xplorer train, and a pair was purchased by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad for their Dan'l Webster train (New York, New York to Boston, Massachusetts).
The R's twelve-cylinder 1,000 horsepower (750 kW) Maybach MD-655 main engine was mounted rigidly to, and pivoted with, the locomotives front truck, along with the Mechydro hydraulic transmission. An auxiliary Maybach engine (turbocharged 8-cylinder MD-440 on the NYC unit, turbocharged 6-cylinder MD-330 on the New Haven locomotives) powered the locomotives accessories, and a 480-volt generator to provide head-end power for train lighting and other ancillary loads.
The 99-short-ton (88-long-ton; 90 t) units measured 58 ft 9 in (17.91 m) long by 10 ft 6 in (3.20 m) wide by 11 ft 0 in (3.35 m) high, and were configured in a B-2 wheel arrangement, with only the first two axles powered, and were geared for 120 mph (190 km/h).
The New Haven locomotives were dual-powered, and came equipped with third-rail pickups and two 150 hp (110 kW) traction motors, to allow them to operate in New York's Grand Central Terminal.
The units were only in service from 1957 until 1960, and had several problems during their short lives, including transmission overheating, and shop forces unfamiliar with their engines and transmissions. The NYC's shop crews occasionally had to obtain metric fasteners from a local Volkswagen dealership.
Both trains, and all three locomotives, were retired in 1960, and sold to Jones Tours, for excursion service. After a long period of storage in South Carolina, lastly at Travelers Rest on the Greenville and Northern Railway, the trains and locomotives were scrapped around 1970.